Improvement in picket-fences



l. W I LLH ITE.

Picket-Fences.

Patented Dec. 24, 1872.

PATENT OEEIOE.

JOSEPH WILLHITE, OF PILOT POINT, TEXAS.

IMPROVEMENT lNvPlCKET-F ENCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 134,235, dated December 24, 1872.

l have invented a new and useful Improvement in Picket-Fence, of which the following is a specification In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a side View of a portion of my improved fence.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the same taken through the line w Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the same taken through the line y y, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention has for its object to furnish an improved picket-fence, simple in construction, inexpensive in manufacture, which shall require a comparatively small amount Of t-iinber, can be easily repaired, and cannot be rubbed down by the stock and it consists in the construction and combination of the various parts of the fence, as hereinafter more fully described.

A are posts, which I prefer to make about livefeet long, and which are set in the ground about one and ahalf foot. In the side Of the posts A, near their upper ends, are formed notches to receive the rails B. The posts A should be eight feet, more or less, apart, and the rails B should be Of such a length that their ends may come opposite apost, A. The adjacent ends of the rails B should be beveled Oft" or inclined to iit upon each other, and are nailed to each other and to the posts A. C are the pickets, which I prefer to make about six feet long, and which are driven into the ground at a distance of about one and a half foot from the line of the posts A, so that they may incline laterally, as shown in Fig. 3. This lateral inclination of the pickets C prevents stock from rubbing against them, and thus rubbing down the fence. The side of the rails B next the pickets C should be beveled oli", as`shown in Figs. 2 and 3, so that the said pickets C may rest squarely against the said rails B. The pickets C may also be inclined longitudinally with the length of the fence, as shown in Fig. 1, if desired, but this latter inclination is not essential. D is a wire coiled spiral] y around the rails B, and passing around a picket, O, at each turn, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. At each post A the wire D is passed through a hole in the rail B, around the upper end of the post A, and back through another hole'in the rail B, so as to further and permanently secure the rails to the posts.

By this construction, the timber of all the parts of the fence may be made light, and at the same time the fence Will be strong and substantial. With this construction, also, when any of the pickets O rot Oi' they maybe driven down into the ground Or replaced with new pickets, Without disturbing the Wire, rails, or posts, which cannot be done when the Wire passes through the pickets.

The pickets O may be set so close together, if desired, as to prevent the passage Of very small animals.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters .Pateut-- A fence consisting of posts A, rails B, and pickets C, arranged and held by wire D, substantially as and for the purpose described.

JOSEPH W ILLHITE.

Witnesses:

JOHN TAYLOR, LEVEN S. SARGENT. 

